


Safe Haven

by XxmerthurcatxX



Series: Bubblegum Bitch [6]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: First Kiss, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Tumblr Prompt, boys trying to figure out how feelings work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-24
Updated: 2019-05-24
Packaged: 2020-03-13 09:15:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18937945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/XxmerthurcatxX/pseuds/XxmerthurcatxX
Summary: prompt: "why are you bleeding?"Steve picks Billy up at a gas station after a fight with his dad and lets him crash at his place for the night...or forever lol





	Safe Haven

Billy Hargrove hated being told what to do. By teachers, by his “friends,” by anyone. No one told him what to do if they valued not having their face rearranged. 

But it was different when it came to his father. Billy had learned a long time ago, when his father snarled for him to “stay the fuck down,” it was smart to listen. Once, when he was fourteen or so, he’d struggled to his feet even after his Dad told him not to get up. The results were…less than satisfactory to be sure. Since then, when Neil told him to stay down, he did. 

Honestly, Billy couldn’t remember what had set his Dad off this time. Forgetting to wash a dish. Picking up Max two minutes late from the arcade. It didn’t matter. Fists were flying before he had time to think. 

It was Saturday night and he was lying on the floor with his father standing over him, telling him what a piece of shit he was. How he was gonna learn respect and responsibility if Neil had to beat it into him every god damn day of the year. Billy’s ears were ringing from how hard his head had hit the floor when he went down, so he was only half listening to the insults his father hurled his way, but he wasn’t too out of it to catch that last one.  _Faggot_. That’s how it always ended. His father calling him a useless faggot. At least he knew it would be over soon. 

“Do you understand me?” Neil demanded. 

“Yes, sir,” Billy managed. 

“Good. Now give me your keys.”

Billy dug into his pocket and pulled out his keys, knowing it was better to hand them over then to argue. Neil snatched them out of his hand. 

“Now get the hell out of my house. I don’t wanna see you again until tomorrow,” Neil spat, turning on his heel and heading down the hallway. 

Billy waited until he didn’t hear his footsteps anymore before he carefully pushed himself up to standing. The room was spinning, but he managed to breathe through it, grabbing his leather jacket and tugging it on since it was probably cold as fuck outside. Fucking Indiana weather. 

He took a second to steady himself before walking out of his room, heading for the front door, thankful his father had retired for the evening so he didn’t have to pass him on his way out. Max was lingering in the kitchen, watching Billy nervously. 

“Where are you gonna go?” she asked quietly. 

Billy shrugged. 

“Don’t worry about it, kid. I’ll…I’ll be back to drive you to school,” he told her. 

Max nodded, tugging at the sleeve of her hoodie. 

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. 

Billy shook his head, moving toward her and giving her hair a quick ruffle. 

“Not your fault,” he said seriously. “I gotta go before he comes out and sees I’m still here.”

He didn’t wait for a response, too afraid if she said anything else he’d break down in tears which he really didn’t want to do in front of her, and headed out the front door. 

It wasn’t as cold as he thought it would be. Small mercies. Of course he really didn’t have a plan, but he hadn’t wanted Max to worry. He walked into town, aimlessly shuffling along the sidewalks. The gas station was the only thing open at this hour so he bought himself a new pack of smokes and sat on the curb, smoking and waiting for the nausea to fade. 

“Hargrove?”

Billy freezes, lips tight around the cigarette he’d been about to light. He’d know that voice anywhere. Steve Harrington. As Steve came into view Billy looked down, trying to hide the damage to his face, but it was too late. 

“Holy shit. What happened to you?” Steve asked. 

Billy, deciding there was no point in hiding if Steve had already seen, glared up at him. 

“What’s it to you?” he spat. Nastiness he knew. It was familiar. It felt good, making Steve flinch away from him. 

“Nothing. I just…dude, you’re sitting outside a gas station, practically bleeding out-

“Don’t be such a drama queen,  _King_ Steve,” Billy grunted. He was hardly bleeding out. Sure, his eyebrow was split open, but he knew it wasn’t as bad as it probably looked. Head injuries just bled a lot. Speaking of blood, he noticed a fair bit of blood on the sleeve of Harrington’s jacket. “Why are  _you_  bleeding?” he asked. 

Steve glanced down at his jacket, startling when he saw the blood, like he’d forgotten it was there. 

“Oh, it’s not mine,” Steve said quickly. 

Billy arched a curious brow at him. 

“Well that sounds ominous.”

Steve laughed, shaking his head and offering Billy a hand up, which Billy accepted even though he had been fully intending to spend the rest of the night outside the gas station. 

“You, uh, need a ride somewhere?” Steve asked, noticing that Billy’s Camaro was nowhere in sight. 

“Can’t go home. Nowhere else to go,” Billy said, immediately regretting the words. He hadn’t meant to tell Harrington the truth. Oops. 

Steve gave him a calculating look. 

“You could…you could crash at my place. If you need to,” he offered. 

That threw Billy for a loop. He and Steve had sort of been dancing around each other. Billy had apologized not only to Steve, but all of Max’s little nerd friends for what went down  _that_  night and since then he and Steve had struck up a tentative friendship. It most consisted of sharing cigarettes behind the school during lunch or when they were waiting for the kids to get out of AV club. But they weren’t exacting the slumber party type. 

“Lead the way, pretty boy,” Billy said, following Steve to his car. 

The trip to Harrington’s place was short and Billy was grateful that Steve didn’t press him about his face. Hell, for all he knew Max had told all her little friends what was going on behind closed doors in the Hargrove household. It would explain why they all accepted his apology so readily. He couldn’t even find it in himself to be mad at her. After the shit he put her through, she definitely deserved to be cut a little slack. 

“Bathroom’s down the hall if you want to patch yourself up a little. There’s a first aid kit under the sink,” Steve told him when they were inside what Billy could only describe as the Harrington Mansion. No wonder Steve had been kind of Hawkins High. 

Steve sort of hovered by the bathroom door as Billy started patching himself up, like he wanted to help but wasn’t sure it was allowed. It was kind of sweet actually. Made Billy’s heart do all sorts of stupid things. In a moment of bravery Billy didn’t even know he possessed, he stepped into Harrington’s space and gave his cheek a quick peck. 

“Thanks. For letting me stay,” he mumbled, pointedly avoiding Steve’s eye. 

Steve got over the shock of Billy kissing him quickly, leaning forward and giving Billy a peck right back, his closer to the corner of Billy’s mouth than his cheek. He smiled when he pulled away and gave Billy’s hand a squeeze. 

“Anytime.” 


End file.
